Anyone Into Unlimited Hydros?

[Aros]

Good questions Clugh, I am not sure what the sans battery weight is. Feels like 8-10 pounds as a pure guess? Also not sure on what cells to run as I am not familiar with the motor and ESC setup...I assume 6? Maybe 8?

[Aros]

I found a custom auto body painter who has agreed to paint my Pak. Super thrilled! I’ll be bringing it to his shop next week. He’s giving me a sweet deal since he’s never done a small project like this and admits he doesn’t know what to charge. Lucky me!

I started masking some pieces just to save him some time and decided to do a crude dry fit of the decals to make sure they fit. Looks good. He’s going to prep, prime, paint the base coats and hand it off to me to apply all the graphics and then I will hand it back over to him for the clear coat.

[Aros]

This is my builder with his 1:8 Pak. Mine will look very similar.

[skyowa]

Not into hydros yet, but I do have a Delta Force 26 mono I built and a Delta Force 28 cat I'll have done by the time there's liquid water again

[f4u ausie]

I found a custom auto body painter who has agreed to paint my Pak. Super thrilled! I’ll be bringing it to his shop next week. He’s giving me a sweet deal since he’s never done a small project like this and admits he doesn’t know what to charge. Lucky me!

I started masking some pieces just to save him some time and decided to do a crude dry fit of the decals to make sure they fit. Looks good. He’s going to prep, prime, paint the base coats and hand it off to me to apply all the graphics and then I will hand it back over to him for the clear coat.

Ya to soft clear is the easy part... the masking the hard .. a bloke that worked 4 me 10 years ago.. scrath built a hydro.. about a meter long... a circrle hydro not drag,, (the ones i luv) it was foam to shape then fiberglass over top... painted cand apple red, by me then .. looked awsome ,, but tried a lawn cutter motor too no avail.. would not get off plane.. but he luvs it

[Clugh]

The pay n pak is a very easy if not the easiest scale boat to paint. Its a base white with vinyl decals there's not much to mask. Save a professional job for something like an exide or circus. Thats when you need real skills. You have to do it to gain experience. Every great builder learned this way. One boat at a time.

[Aros]

Clugh totally understood. I'm no stranger to a rattle can but my primary concern is having a "professional" level finish, primarily the clear coats. I want the finish to be completely smooth like it just came out the showroom floor. My first Pak had that pro level paint job and there's a major difference between what that looked like and what it would look like if I attempted it. Painting EPO foam warbirds is one thing. This is something I want to be proud of and a museum piece like my last one was.

[Clugh]

You dont have to use a rattle can so please do not get stuck on that one additional suggestion which if you remember I also recommended a sata minijet. The boat posted was painted with automotive paint not a rattle can Prep is more important that the base coat for a smooth finish.

No matter what you paint it with there's simply not a lot to mask. There is no great detail in the scheme The boat I showed u was painted with automotive paint and this gun before clearing and there is not an imperfection in it. There is no orange peel and the finish is just as good as that on my 2016 tahoe LTZ. It cost 15000 dollars at Hendrick to paint a Tahoe

The finish on the boat your builder painted is easily attainable. base white with clear. Anyone that thinks Duplicolor cant achieve it hasn't painted with it. Ive been doing it 30 plus years.

The other issue is the toxicity of the paint. People use water based now not high dollar paints like Dupont Imron which is toxic as hell. Self painters need to consider the air the air they are breathing and the if they actually have the proper PPE for high dollar paints that will give you cancer. To me its not worth it especial;l when your friend who cant drive comes across the deck with his prop at 30000 rpm



Most people dont have breathable air systems at at home. BTW I specifically monitored and maintained all the automation including the Grayco proportionate estat systems and 1 million dollar 7 axis fanuc 30 IB paint robots in the paint dept at Daimler Trucks of North America for 5 years. This is a much more elaborate high dollar ESTAT painting system than any model could dream of.. I definitely know what I'm talking about. The four Fanuc robots were fitted with Sames estat heads not Fanucs so it is a very specialized system and alot of long plumbing .The one robot shown, and it is four of them is a quarter million. I became very intimate with professional painters, and these paint systems, Including paint pro which runs the robots. We ran PPG. All this was after the 30 years. Mercedes has some robots that are elaborate enough to open the door of the car go in and paint the interior then see itself back out of the car. Thats some cool sht!

[Clugh]

As far a rattle cans go UPOL is some of the best non yellowing clear you can get and it comes from a rattle can. Professionally recommended to me years ago. U dont have to paint the boats yourself but if you want to build more and get them on water quicker learn to paint your own. Exposure is everything and the idea they can cant produce great results is also false. If u know any graffiti artist that's proof that one man with a spray can is not necessarily the other. It alll depends on you the person and how much attention to detail you require. Things I'd be looking at is recoat times etc. Thats where a paint job can be made or broken.. Paint with extended or no limits on recoat would be my choice for a beginner. All you need then is a compatible clear with your base.

[Clugh]

Note the finish at the end.

The other reason it works for me is I can buy it over a counter 7 days a week at Advanced Auto. There is no exclusive paint supplier that's open 7 days a week despite all the hype a 1 part paint and clear coat system is about as easy as it gets. No mixing of catalyst or any other unnecessary bs.

[Aros]

As always, I thank you for your immense information and knowledge! My painter's father had a stroke a few days ago so I don't know when he will be able to get to it. The other thing is that the cowling has areas that need to be fixed. I tried added fiberglass cloth, resin, primed and sanded and it looks terrible, lol. He said he would fix that for me as well.

Worst case, if he is unable to work on it, I'll take your advice and do it myself.

[Clugh]

Painted in Duplicolor

[Clugh]

As always, I thank you for your immense information and knowledge! My painter's father had a stroke a few days ago so I don't know when he will be able to get to it. The other thing is that the cowling has areas that need to be fixed. I tried added fiberglass cloth, resin, primed and sanded and it looks terrible, lol. He said he would fix that for me as well.

Worst case, if he is unable to work on it, I'll take your advice and do it myself.

Could u post a photo of your issues at the cowl. Did Steve supply the cowl?

[Aros]

Yes I'll take some photos later today. Yes it's Steve's cowl but my builder added these side flares to it and left the seam for me to deal with. It needs to be sanded down more and more light putty, sanded and primed. I prefer someone who is good at that instead of my monkey paws, lol.

[Clugh]

Imma get you more involved or die trying....

[Clugh]

To be honest im not actually understanding what the builder has going on there with the cowl my guy

[Clugh]

It should look like your friends in this photo. This is correct and a very beautiful boat.. Were u given the cowl in two pieces? it looks like its been joined short. This boat in the photo has an offset driveline for LTO as well. Did you notice that. 😎

[Aros]

No this was the correct 1982 cowl that I wanted. The 1982 had two cowls, one with the flares on the sides (which is the version I wanted) and one without. I always liked the look of the extra flares (air flow ducting?) on the sides...See the photo below of someone else's 82 Pak...

Problem is, he didn't quite nail the curved section aft...He made it more right angled but it's better than nothing.

[Clugh]

Nice variation! Get some micro ballons filler for the area that bugs you. You mix it in with the epoxy to make the filler. You can control the body of the putty buy how much micro ballons put in the epoxy. I like mine a a few clicks thicker than a peanut butter consistency. Thick enuf that it wont sag. One it cures it will sand nice, You need to get some systems west epoxy as well and some thin cloth as well. U have to show me close up where your issue is. Im sure you can work this out if you are interested. If you don't got the time. I get it but we just getting older online. I plan to try to get 2 on the water by summer. U need to make you a sanding block as well probably a couple with different grits. I assume you want to feather the seam at the front of the flares with the rest so it looks as one???

BTW we turn right on the east coast and I'm talking about the boats not politics

[Aros]

Yes correct on the seam. Ah, yes I've heard about micro balloons...I should have tried that first. I know I have the right stuff to finish the job (materials, not skill, LOL)...As you can see from the first photo, I started to sand but it was taking forever and I primed it so I can see better. Clearly it looks terrible. The second photo shows the putty before I've sanded too much. I used 80, 160 and 220 grit. I have an electric hand sander I used. Clearly I just need to keep at it until I reach the results I need. More time and elbow grease.